Last week I took a trip to sunny central London to attend Cornwall Insight’s Green Generators Group (3G), which is the user group for our low carbon generation service. In what felt like a novelty after a two-year hiatus of face-to-face forums, I was joined by my colleagues Dan Starman and Tim Dixon, two of Cornwall Insight’s wholesale energy market experts and now seasoned veterans of delivering 3G virtually.
With a diverse mix of stakeholders from across the market including renewables investors, developers, generators, traders, and manufacturers there was a good energy in the room (pardon the pun) – and the break from the Teams screen was much welcomed by all who joined.
There was plenty to talk about, including – acronym time – the recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round, Renewables Obligation (RO) payment protection consultation, and of course an update on proposed market design reform. This last topic is certainly one that divides opinion. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), announced as part of the government’s Energy Security Strategy earlier this year could deliver the biggest transformation to the GB energy system in nearly two decades. One option, Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP), proposes to split the GB wholesale market into zones or nodes, allowing prices to differ by location to encourage investment in flexible energy assets in the right places and minimise the costs of keeping the system balanced, so the theory goes. Simultaneously, in response to the broader energy crisis, the government and regulator are also looking at splitting the market for thermal and intermittent assets. It was fascinating to hear the considerations and perspectives of those in the room. We discuss all these topics and more in our low carbon generation insight service, but meeting with everyone in this forum gives us a great opportunity to really get discussions going.
It was great to see the hybrid event run smoothly, with Cornwall’s remote presenters Tom Faulkner and Lucy Dalton dialing in seamlessly and virtual attendees able to join the discussion. The setup at the venue was excellent – special thanks to Weightmans for hosting the event at their offices on Fenchurch Street, it generated a brilliant atmosphere and enabled some great conversations which flowed into the East India Arms later that afternoon.
Our next in-person Green Generators Group forum is scheduled for October, and I look forward to seeing many of you there again. In the meantime, our virtual sessions continue on 11 August. Please contact me if you’re interested in finding out more about our low carbon generation service at t.ross@cornwall-insight.com or 07909 874447.
